Why is porn legal in the US?
 

No, I'm not saying porn should be banned. But this thought just occured to me the other day. Prostitution is illegal because it's illegal to be paid to have sex. However porn stars get paid and are therefore being paid to have sex, basicly selling their bodies like a prostitute. So.... how exactly does that work?

No, porn people get paid to appear on camera, where they incidentally are having sex. Not too hard to figure that one out.

That's a load of crap, having sex is part of their job. If what you said was true they could technically get infront of the camera and refuse to have sex and demand to still be paid.

Ozzie, quite a lot of pornography involves people doing things that aren't strictly sex.

I understand that, but the fact is it's in there unless they're faking having sex. I just don't understand how the law allows people to be paid to have sex in a movie but they can't be paid to have sex by a random stranger. It just seems kinda contradictory if you think about it.

The main thing is there is a major psychological difference between being paid to have sex with someone else who is being paid to have sex and being paid to have sex with someone who is paying for sex.

Like most laws, they are tradition based, as well.

From a utilitarian standpoint (hate to quote Wikipedia, but):

The same can't be said about prostitution.

Yes, but soliciting is enjoyable only for one person, whereas everyone watches porn. It's a big industry. Sure, it's a little contradictory, but name something that isn't.

I know, huh? Here's another one: why do you drive in a parkway and park in a driveway? Crazy, right?

Prostitution is an act. Receiving money from someone for sexual activity.

Pornography is simply recording a legal activity - two consenting adults having sexual relations. Nothing illegal at all.

So the biggest loophole one can exploit would be to grab a prostitue off the street, take her to a hotel room where there is a camera running, and a light fixture hung correctly.

And if the cops bust in tell them you're making "Whores for cash 3"?

You're off the hook?

Well, no.

I could be wrong, but I doubt there are any unregulated porn laws in the US. I think most require licensing. And prostitution isn't illegal in the US, but it's illegal through local jurisdictions. It's legal (and regulated) in Nevada, after all.

pornography is a good, prostitution is a service

I think if that were the tradition, then prostitution would probably be legal or less stigmatized, at any rate. Prostitution is more of a problem not because it is viewed as a woman performing a service, but because it is viewed as a woman as a good itself. I think if sex was looked at as the good, it'd be less of an issue.

Another thing is, in porn, regular tests are done to stop the chance of STD's being spread throughout the populace.

with prostitution shit, you have about a 10% chance of not catching something that'll make you piss fire.

Yes, but if prostitution was legalized and regulated, that wouldn't be an issue.

Are you fucking insane. Do you have any idea how important porn is for the industry? How many people work in the porn business? This is about making ends meet, about annuities, about social welfare in general.

Banning porn. You must be fucking kidding, man.

Only some of the larger studios. I've heard it's a fairly major issue that not nearly enough porn producers make sure all their actors are clean. Condoms tend to be used very rarely as well.

It is because having prostitution in a neighbourhood, like having drug dealers, or a lot of homeless people, tends to attract crime in addition to the criminal act of prostitution or drug-dealing.

Filming pornography tends to be done in a proper film studio, which isn't generally hanging out in the open (there are exceptions).

So there you have it, it's just a case of "not in my back yard".

Exactly what I was thinking. The government receives a lot of reveneue from pornography after taxes. If if didn't, then it would most certainly not be legal, just as prostitution. A bit off topic, this concept may also explain why marijuana hasn't been legalized, where as cigarettes have.

As far as legality in the eyes of the government goes, certain acts receive a certain 'selective attention'.

Legal, regulated brothels would probably earn the government a shit-ton of money. Hello weekly STD testing.

Not if YOU pay her. In porn, the people engaging in sex don't pay each other - that is illegal. If you want to pay two other people to have consentual sex, that's perfectly OK in the eyes of the law. You just can't pay them to have sex with you. [insert dating joke here]

Fuck just put on a beard, sunglasses and hat. IF the cops bust in and ask what you are doing, say you're shooting a film and your director had left the film running to go get some refreshments >.>

You can't solicit or accept payment for sex. You can film people having sex and sell it for profit. End of story, thread closed.

Uh, the question isn't "What is the law?" but "Why is the law as such?".

OIC

Prostitution laws were by and large in place at a time when a bunch of old hag religious nuts implanted the idea that prostitution was a system of white slavery, where white women (most important here) were forced against their will to serve Johns in seedy brothels across the country.

It was all bullshit, but that didn't stop the laws from passing. Now prostitution is still illegal based on similar claims, where women aren't consenting to the act of prostitution, or the dangers involved in pimping and violent Johns. These claims are made without considering that the dangerous nature of prostitution is a result of its illegality, and that in cases where prostitution is legal (see: Nevada) it's a safe industry.

It is as if legally, one cannot consent to offer oneself sexually for money.

Edit: The reason pornography is legal contrasted to prostitution is because, quite simply, it was never ubiquitous throughout history to the point where those kind of "white slavery" stigmas could be put in place.

The fact that the Bible frowns on prostitution had no wherewithal in that? They continue to use the "white slavery" argument, no doubt, but I suspect the main reason is simply "My pastor says this is wrong, therefore I will pass legislation outlawing it." It got us prohibition, anti-sodomy laws, and it's still against the law to sell liquor on Sundays around these parts.

None of which ever stopped The Institution. The Catholic Church ran brothels, and nunneries were practically a pussy buffet for priests until The Reformation started demanding that everybody be more moral.

None of that carried over formally into the US, despite the Puritans and all of that other self-righteous bullshit. Prostitution was a taboo for all the reasons you described, but nobody cared enough to illegalize and crack down until they started believing in the lie of White Slavery.

The simple solution, of course, would be Nevada's: Legalise, regulate and tax prostitution, then crack down hard on unliscenced prostitutes, although legal brothels would really damage their business, I imagine.

Are you being melodramatic, or did the Church really run brothels, because I can't find anything about that.

I agree with the major psychological difference. I'm sure a lot of the people who do porn regularly really get little to no sexual enjoyment out of it anymore, and it's just a job to them, whereas with prostitution at least one person is in it just to get off. Of course anyone watching the porn is in it just to get off, but if the people performing are just acting out a role and never have to see the random guy jacking off to them, I guess that disconnect makes it easier for people to view porn as legitimate while prostitution is "immoral" I don't know, my two cents.